needs all the energy it can get. The last thing your body wants to do
at this time is work out, especially when you have an elevated tem-
perature. Don’t exercise if you are ill. If you’ve ever attempted it and
worn a heart monitor, you know what happens: your heart rate ele-
vates, sometimes drastically. The same effect is observed if you are
anemic: less oxygen can be delivered to the muscles, and your tests
will worsen. For women, menses can also increase heart rate.
By using the 180 Formula and regularly performing the MAF Test
you will be on the right road for improving fitness and health. But
there’s one more bonus — warming up and cooling down.
An Aerobic Bonus: Warm-Up and Cool-Down
Most people think that warming up means stretching. This isn’t true.
A real warm-up provides many important benefits, most of which
stretching can’t give. What’s more, stretching can often do more harm
than good.
Warming up aerobically is the first step of exercise; it’s the slow
shifting of blood into the working muscles. The key word is slow.
Shifting the blood into the muscles too quickly can be a significant
stress on the rest of the body. Specifically, the blood going into the
muscles comes from other important areas of the body including the
nervous system, adrenal glands and intestines. Diverting the blood
out of these areas and circulating it into the muscles too quickly can
be much like going into shock. When a warm-up is done slowly, the
organs and glands can properly compensate for this normal activity.
Warming up provides three important benefits:
- It increases the blood flow, bringing oxygen and nutrients
into the muscles, and removes waste products. - It increases the fats in the blood that are used for muscle
energy. - It increases flexibility in all the joints by gently warming
and lengthening the muscles.
The warm-up can be any easy aerobic, low-heart-rate activity.
Begin your exercise by slowly raising your heart rate from its starting
point of say, 75 beats per minute. Slowly elevate the heart rate, over a
HEART-RATE MONITORING • 207